"Out of ammo."
Unit-00, holding the firearm, quickly emptied its bullets. Rei swiftly discarded the weapon. Prepared to grab another gun deployed beside her.
But Israfel wouldn't give her a chance to switch weapons.
Leaped before Unit-00. Swung its arm!
"WHAM!"
Rei could only choose to take the hit head-on. Blocked with her arm. But still got entangled.
"ROAR!"
Israfel continuously used its AT Field to neutralize Unit-00's AT Field. This type of Angel easily caught opponents off-guard in initial combat.
Just as both EVAs were entangled by the Angels—
"THUD-THUD... THUD-THUD-THUD-THUD!"
Heavy footsteps sounded. Getting closer.
"Get off me... wait, what's that?"
Asuka still wrestled with Israfel. Suddenly her peripheral vision caught a massive figure sprinting toward them from the city's direction at extreme speed.
Unit-01 appeared in their view, running at full stride.
"BOOM!"
Upon approaching the harbor, it leaped directly.
Instantly arrived beside Unit-00. Grabbed one Israfel's shoulder. Using the landing momentum, hurled it with all its might!
"SPLASH!"
This Israfel flew through the air. Crashed heavily into the seawater ahead.
"Ikari-kun?"
Inside Unit-00, Rei asked softly seeing Unit-01.
"Sorry I'm late."
Shinji turned back. Smiled at her.
Then controlled Unit-01 to continue running forward two steps. Picked up the spear Unit-02 dropped earlier. Aimed at the Israfel wrestling with Unit-02. Built momentum.
"WHOOSH!"
The spear flew.
"SCREEE!"
Instantly pierced that Israfel. Knocked it back.
Unit-02 got a chance to breathe. Rose from the seawater. Pulled back distance.
"Even without you, I could've handled it."
Asuka looked at Unit-01 beside her. Said stubbornly.
"I know. Asuka's a very capable pilot."
Shinji said.
"But this Angel's ability is special. One person's strength alone can't easily kill it."
"Together, we can definitely eliminate it."
Against tsunderes, straightforward honesty was always the optimal solution.
"Well... since you put it that way."
Asuka's expression looked unnatural.
"For the mission's success rate, teamwork is indeed necessary right now."
In the command room, hearing their conversation, Misato smiled.
"Earlier, after Asuka broke the Angel's core, it rapidly regenerated. Combined with this splitting ability, I deduce we must simultaneously shatter both the Angel's cores to truly eliminate it."
She spoke through comms.
"Understood."
"I'll restrain them both simultaneously. Then have Ayanami-san and Asuka attack together."
Shinji also made his choice.
Finished speaking. As both Israfels just stood up, already charged forward.
Right now his sync ratio with Unit-01 approached zero infinitely. But Unit-01 still moved under his command. This was Natsuki using Ultra Psychic to assist his operation. Though consuming Shinji's stamina, this was undoubtedly the most cost-effective fighting style currently.
"ROAR!"
"ROAR!"
Both Israfels shrieked. Prepared to merge back into one.
But Unit-01 already reached them. Both hands extended. Through brute force grabbed their AT Fields. Prevented their fusion.
Then arms exerted force. Pierced through the AT Fields. Grabbed their shoulders. One in each hand.
Held them on either side of its body.
"Now!"
Shinji shouted through comms to Rei and Asuka.
"Understood."
"Coming!"
Unit-00 and Unit-02 held Prog Knives. Launched surprise attacks from both sides. Aimed at Israfel's cores.
"Shinji is much stronger than I imagined."
Yui watched this scene. Smiled.
She understood—Shinji's dream wasn't just talk. He seriously wanted to save others.
Her original plan could perhaps truly be set aside now.
"He is indeed an excellent young man."
Professor Fuyutsuki watched Shinji's performance. Couldn't help praising.
When Gendo neglected Shinji, he didn't stop it. Because he believed the more closed Shinji's heart became, the stronger Unit-01's combat power would be when piloted.
Now the boy's heart was no longer tightly sealed. After Yui's rescue, Unit-01 even lost its original meaning. But the boy still piloted it, displaying power that could protect others. This was something none of them predicted before.
And just as Unit-00 and Unit-02 both thrust their Prog Knives into Israfel's cores—
"Bad news! Our system's being invaded!"
A technician suddenly stood from his seat. Shouted in disbelief.
NERV headquarters possessed the world's most advanced supercomputer, MAGI. The defense system should also be impregnable. Even the surface-level defense system wasn't something ordinary hackers could touch.
But now an external program actually penetrated their system. This was completely impossible!
"What!?"
Hearing this news, Ritsuko hurriedly ran to the console to check the situation.
"It's searching the main database's materials... is it looking for something?"
She quickly pulled up the backend. Traced this program.
"This path... could it be..."
"It's trying to directly invade MAGI!?"
Her eyes widened in shock.
The opponent actually wanted to directly invade the world's most advanced computer.
"Wave pattern is blue!"
"It's not a hacker, but... an Angel!"
A technician shouted frantically.
While they dealt with Israfel, an Angel actually took advantage of this gap to invade their base!
"Can you stop it?"
Gendo looked at Ritsuko. Asked.
MAGI was developed by Ritsuko's mother. As her daughter, she currently understood the MAGI system best.
Ritsuko nodded. Then quickly connected her personal computer to the main control computer. Prepared to engage this Angel in a battle within the digital world.
And at this moment—
Ghost Angel, possessing this nanoscale Angel, felt somewhat confused.
He'd searched through all of NERV's internal materials. Searched every single space in the entire base.
He just wanted to ask:
"Where's Adam?"
"Where's my huge Adam embryo???"
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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